The Muni's Derailing Problems

[Stan de SD]

Does anybody here have any answers about the Muni's derailing problems?  Why
now, especially after an $8 million fix?

The papers never report any root causes. Either Muni doesn't know or
isn't telling. Compare to the reporting on the CTA's recent 'L'
"Investigators determined that the train operator disobeyed a "stop"
signal and caused the derailment by driving the train over a track
switch that was not aligned for the train to pass safely"

If the articles posted by the SF Comical in their new on-line site
(sfgate.com) are any indication, it's clear that nobody in the SF
media (outside perhaps a popular yet cantankerous radio show host on
the call-letter deficient station) has much of a clue how railway
equipment works, much less the inclination to get off their lazy asses
and do some work. Derailments can be related to the track (out of
gauge, too tight curvature, debris in flangeways/frogs/switchpoints),
vehicles (wheel/flange profile, wheelbase length, harmonic vibrations/
oscillations during operation, high center of gravity) or operator
issues (excessive speed, heavy braking in curves). None of this is
really rocket science (your typical nerdy train-buff kid can tell you
more than you ever wanted to know), but the type of old-school
gruntwork and pounding the pavement to get the whole story is likely
too much effort for your typical AP-wire-spoonfed J-school graduate
these days.

Interestingly enough, this member of an older generation remembers a
chronic derailment issue with Amtrak's first generation of new diesel-
electric locomotives (EMD SDP40Fs for you foamer types). This issue
perplexed Amtrak for several years in the 1970's, as this particular
design was a minor modification of the six-axle GM locomotives that
Amtrak's main tenants (UP, BN, ATSF, Conrail) rostered in the
thousands, with negligible problems (in fact, 18 of the Amtrak units
were later sold to the Santa Fe which used them for years without
complaint). The problem was so severe that most of the class were
eventually scrapped while only a few years old, with the prime movers
and electricals re-used for a four-axle variant (F40PH). Years after
the fact, it was noted that the water tanks used for the steam
generator were located relatively high in the carbody, and lacked
proper internal baffling. The hypothesis was that the combination of a
higher than normal center of gravity and centrifugal force of water
sloshing around when the locomotives went into curves at passenger
train speeds resulted in enough momentum to momentarily lift the
locomotive wheels on the inboard side of the curve, causing the
derailments. I would hope that MUNI would have better luck in
resolving such issues in a timely manner, but I have my doubts.

[David Kaye]

Post by Stan de SD
If the articles posted by the SF Comical in their new on-line site
(sfgate.com) are any indication, [....]

SFGate is 15 years old. That is new? Did you also call Pope John Paul II
"that new pope" when he died after 27 years in office?

Post by Stan de SD
[....] but the type of old-school
gruntwork and pounding the pavement to get the whole story is likely
too much effort for your typical AP-wire-spoonfed J-school graduate
these days.

You have no idea what you're talking about. J-school grads are just as
anxious to do investigative reporting as any previous reporters. The trouble
is that MANAGEMENT is not paying for this. They don't want someone spending
days on a story; they want them spending hours, or preferably minutes on a
story. J-school grads are itching to do real reporting. That's why so many
of them have turned to blogging.

[Stan de SD]

Post by Stan de SD
If the articles posted by the SF Comical in their new on-line site
(sfgate.com) are any indication, [....]

SFGate is 15 years old.  That is new?  Did you also call Pope John Paul II
"that new pope" when he died after 27 years in office?  

Post by Stan de SD
[....] but the type of old-school
gruntwork and pounding the pavement to get the whole story is likely
too much effort for your typical AP-wire-spoonfed J-school graduate
these days.

You have no idea what you're talking about.  J-school grads are just as
anxious to do investigative reporting as any previous reporters.

Yeah, right. I was a photo stringer for a major So Cal newspaper for
many years, and from what I saw the average J-school product views him/
herself as some advocate for "change" or "saving the world". They go
to the same canned, self-proclaimed "experts" to get the opinion that
fits into their agenda, and call it a wrap.

[David Kaye]

Post by Stan de SD
Yeah, right. I was a photo stringer for a major So Cal newspaper for
many years, and from what I saw the average J-school product views him/
herself as some advocate for "change" or "saving the world". They go
to the same canned, self-proclaimed "experts" to get the opinion that
fits into their agenda, and call it a wrap.

But was that ever any different from journalism of bygone days? I call your
attention to the movie, "His Girl Friday" in which the reporters go to the
same old sources to get the same old news.

You can watch it on archive.org in case you've forgotten the movie:
http://www.archive.org/details/HisGirlFriday